Inside the Star

Former York University executives face fraud, money laundering charges

An ex-police officer who rose to a top post at York University before departing under a cloud is one of two former school executives facing fraud and money laundering charges involving more than $1.2 million in campus property.

An ex-police officer who rose to a top post at York University before departing under a cloud is one of two former school executives facing fraud and money laundering charges involving more than $1.2 million in campus property.

Michael Markicevic, York’s assistant vice-president of campus services and business operations for about four years until early 2010, worked for the Collingwood police department in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Markicevic, 53, of Duntroon, near Collingwood, is charged with two counts of fraud and one count of laundering the proceeds of crime, Toronto police confirmed Thursday.

The force also charged York’s former maintenance director, Philip Brown, 46, of Stouffville, with one count of fraud and another related to laundering.

Brown, who worked at the school for three years, left a month after Markicevic. University officials would not confirm if Brown resigned or the school fired him because of privacy rules.

Police allege York was invoiced and billed for about $1.2 million in goods and services that the school did not receive between May 1, 2007 and April 30, 2010.

“It was a multilayered scheme,” said Det. Adkin Holder, who described the one-year police probe as “big.”

Holder said about half the value of the alleged fraud involved maintenance and construction service contracts.

Police also allege other forms of fraud included the use of a university purchasing card to buy goods such as flooring that didn’t end up at the school.

Holder said police don’t plan any further charges at this time but the investigation is continuing.

York, which has about 55,000 students, said in a statement it is taking steps to recover the lost funds. The university also holds an insurance policy to protect it in such a situation and the school is pursuing that avenue.

York hired Markicevic in 2004 as director of security, parking and transportation, and the university said he had extensive senior management experience in the public and private sector including “investigative roles” with what is now the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

After working for the Collingwood police force, Markicevic, who holds a business degree from the University of Toronto, became vice-president of business operations at DBS Systems before joining York.

At York, he gained a reputation as a hard-nosed, combative, demanding executive with a mandate to cut waste, according to sources familiar with his work. York promoted him in 2006.

The university started an internal probe after receiving information from staff about possible improprieties. York turned over the findings from Navigant, outside forensic auditors, to Toronto police in May 2011 so the force could investigate “apparent fraudulent activities.”

Markicevic said in a court filing a few months after he abruptly quit York in February 2011 that the school had accused him of theft but he denied the allegation. The court filing pertained to a dispute over terms of his severance deal.

After hearing about the police probe last fall, Markicevic told the Star that York had fraud problems and it was his job to fix them. Despite his departure, Markicevic said he also wanted to help police find any fraudulent activity.

“There have been some accusations made against me and I say ‘bring it on,’ ” he added in an interview. “Let’s deal with them. Let’s make sure the people that made those accusations . . . will be held to account.”

Markicevic received $233,000 in pay at York in 2009 and another $210,000 in 2010 despite his departure in February of that year, according to Ontario government records.